Eligibility: Each startup that applies to Launchpad Africa is evaluated carefully. Below are general guidelines behind our process to help you understand what we look for in our candidates.

All startups in the program must:

Be a technology startup.

Be based in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda (stay tuned for future classes, as we hope to add more countries).

Have already raised seed funding.

Additionally, we also consider:

The problem you’re trying to solve. How does it create value for users? How are you addressing a real challenge for your home city, country, or Africa broadly?

Will you share what you learn for the benefit of other startups in your local ecosystem?

Anyone who spends time in the African technology space knows that the continent is home to some exciting innovations. Over the years, Google has worked with some incredible startups across Africa, tackling everything from healthcare, education, streamlining e-commerce, to improving the food supply chain. We very much look forward to welcoming the first cohort of innovators for Launchpad Africa and continue to work together to drive innovation in the African market.

Value of Program: Launchpad Accelerator matches the best of Google – its people, network, and advanced technologies – to top global startups, helping scale great products.

As part of the three-month program, startups will receive:

Equity-free support

Access to Google’s engineers and intensive mentoring from over 20 teams

Important Notes: Google will neither provide support nor reimbursements for visas, flights, accommodation and transportation to and from the events. Potential attendees are please advised to apply to attend events for which they can comfortably provide for their own travel and related logistics.